Time: This lesson can be divided up in various ways to suit the time you have with your students. Below are two time options that you can choose from depending on the length of your class. However, these are just suggestions and there are many other ways you could divide the lesson up.
90 minutes – Complete all activities in The front page and Write a news story.
60 minutes – Complete all activities in Write a news story.
Summary: This lesson is divided into two sections: The front page and Write a news story. In the lesson, students will:
1 talk about newspapers;
2 learn newspaper vocabulary;
3 learn how to write a news story;
4 write a news story.
Key skills: Reading, writing, speaking
Subskills: Newspaper vocabulary, writing headlines, writing a news story
Materials: One copy of The front page and Write a news story per student; access to an online newspaper or physical newspaper per student
THE FRONT PAGE1 Bring up the websites of a few newspapers for students to see. Ask students to tell you about the papers. Which ones do they read and why? Which is the best and why?
2 Give out copies of The front page worksheet and point students toward the activity Talking news. Ask them to match the words in bold to the definitions. Go over the answers together.
Key: 1 c; 2 e; 3 d; 4 a; 5 b; 6 f
3 Have students discuss their answers to the questions in pairs. When most pairs have finished, go through each question, asking for some feedback on their responses.
4 Ask students which different sections they expect to find in a newspaper. Write a list on the board of as many sections as they can think of (e.g., national news, international news, sport, business, arts, weather). When students read a newspaper, which section do they look at first? What’s the most popular section in the class?
5 Students work in groups and complete the Look at a newspaper activity. They will need access to an online paper, unless they have a copy of a newspaper with them. They look through the newspaper and write down a few examples of stories the paper is running in each section. For example, in Money and business, they might write down the following: —rising house prices, childcare costs, female entrepreneurs.
6 Explain that, in the next activity, they are going to create the front page of a newspaper and include part of the main story from the different sections of the paper.
Write the following terms on the board:
front page, headline, lead, exclusive, scoop, caption, advertisement
How many of the terms do the students know? Do not confirm the meanings at this stage. Tell them to read the text in Make your own front page to check their answers. You could then ask them to turn over their worksheets before you test their memory of the terms.
7 Tell students to find examples of a headline, a lead, an exclusive, a scoop, a caption, and an advertisement in the newspapers they looked at in the previous activity.
WRITE A NEWS STORY1 Explain that, as preparation for making the newspaper front page, the students need to look at how a newspaper story is put together. Hand out Write a news story. Divide the class into pairs or small groups. Tell them to complete the activity Write an attention-grabbing headline.
2 When most groups have finished, ask each group to read one of their headlines out loud. Write it up on the board and ask the other students to check that they have followed the tips in the box. Which headline is the most attention-grabbing?
3 In Maintain the reader’s interest, students should write three questions, then trade worksheets with another group. The other group must then read the text in the Run a grammar check activity and see if they can answer the questions. They write the answers on the worksheet under each question and return the worksheet to the other group. The group can then check the answers provided.
4 Students should attempt Run a grammar check activity alone before comparing answers in their groups. Then go over the answers with the class.
Key: 1 saved; 2 was sailing; 3 felt; 4 didn’t know; 5 was happening / had happened; 6 grabbed; 7 has been; 8 has been given / was given
5 In their groups, students should write a caption for each of the photos in the Caption competition activity. When they have finished, ask each group to read a caption out loud and see who can be the first to identify the photo the caption relates to.
6 Explain that, for homework, students will be writing a news story with their group. Ask them to choose a story, either real or imaginary, and brainstorm vocabulary for it. Go around and monitor their efforts, suggesting useful vocabulary or correcting their vocabulary, as appropriate. They can start work on a first draft of the story, if time allows.
HOMEWORK TASKThe groups should meet up, outside of class, and complete their news story. Remind them to follow all the advice in Write a news story. They may want to find a photo and include it in their story.
Sentence: The president is going to open an art gallery in Boston.
Headline:
Write a new
s story w
orksheet 1
WRITE AN ATTENTION-GRABBING HEADLINEHeadlines should grab the reader’s attention. They should be short and are not usually complete sentences. Here are some tips for making a complete sentence into a headline.
1 Delete a, the, and all possessive adjectives.
2 Delete all forms of the auxiliary verb be (e.g., is, are, was, were).
3 Use the infinitive to talk about future events.
4 Use the simple present to talk about current or recent events.
5 Group nouns together wherever you can (for example, house prices, New York hotel).
Look at these examples.
Sentence: Jennifer Lawrence’s new movie has broken box office records in its opening week.
Headline:
PRESIDENT TO OPEN BOSTON ART GALLERY
NEW JENNIFER LAWRENCE MOVIE BREAKS BOX OFFICE RECORDS IN OPENING WEEK
MAINTAIN THE READER’S INTERESTThe start of a news story should expand on the headline and give the reader some, but not all, of the story’s details. It should make the reader want to read the full story.
Look at the headline below. What would you most like to know about the story? Write
three questions.
Write a new
s story w
orksheet 3
A dolphin (1) (save) a boy from drowning in the Adriatic Sea last weekend.
Davide Ceci (2) (sail) with his father when he slipped and fell into the water. He was calling
for help when he (3) (feel) something pushing him out of the sea and toward the boat.
“At first, I (4) (not know) what (5) (happen),”
14-year-old Davide told journalists, “but when I realized it was Filippo the dolphin pushing me,
I (6) (grab) on to him.”
The 380 kg dolphin (7) (be) a popular tourist attraction in the sea near Manfredonia,
in southeast Italy, for two years and (8) (give) the name Filippo by local people.
1 ?
Answer:
2 ?
Answer:
3 ?
Answer:
Trade questions with another group. Read the story below in Run a grammar check. Does it answer
the group’s questions? Write the answers on the group’s worksheet and then return it to the group.
RUN A GRAMMAR CHECKWhen you have written your story, you will need to check that all verbs are in the correct tense and that you’ve used the passive where you need to. As practice, write the verbs in the story below in the correct form.
CAPTION COMPETITIONAll your story needs now is a photo and a caption to go under the photo. Look at the photos below. Can you think of a caption for each photo?
